The Walrus Says

By Jim Munro

Kudos to Sonora. Sunday is Father’s Day, and Wikipedia tells us that the day was founded by Sonora Smart Dodd. Her father, Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who reared his six children in Spokane, Wash. He was inspired by Anna Jarvis’ efforts to establish Mother’s Day. The first June Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane at the YMCA.

Unofficial support from such notables as William Jennings Bryant was immediate and widespread. President Woodrow Wilson was the recipient of a Father’s Day dinner by his family in 1916 and President Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday in 1924. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson made Father’s Day a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June.

In recent years, retailers have adapted to the holiday by promoting greeting cards and traditionally male-oriented gifts such as electronics and tools.

More phone calls are made during Mother’s Day than during Father’s Day, but the percentage of collect calls on Father’s Day is much higher, making it the busiest day of the year for collect calls.

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, human and other creatures.

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Bob Kinder and Kath O’Neill both recognized last week’s poser as ”When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob. Bobbin’Along.” Kath said it was a Bobby Darren tune. The song, written by Harry M. Woods in 1926, was also a Dean Martin favorite. Kath also had identified “Pretty Flowers” as the previous week’s poser but her e-mail must have gotten lost in the cyberworld. ***

Betty Kinder correctly says that Jane Wyatt played the mother on the TV version of “Father Knows Best.”

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“One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.” – 17th century English proverb

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Kudos to the Accidental Sisters who, following its concert on June 5, donated $856 to the Women’s Resource Center.

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“Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad.” – Anonymous

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Tomorrow’s full moon is the Rose Moon and Strawberry Moon.

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Grandson Tom will be 19 tomorrow. Hugs, please!

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A Father’s Day poser:

And he was talkin’ fore I knew it, and as he grew

He’d say “I’m gonna be like you dad

You know I’m gonna be like you”

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Leave the salt in the saltshaker.

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Islander Cameron Toppa has been awarded a $2,000 per year out-of-state scholarship to attend Alfred State College in Alfred, N.Y. Cameron graduated from NKHS last Friday.

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“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” – Charles Wadsworth

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What better way for youngsters to spend their summer than at Camp Happy Tails at the Potter League for Animals in Middletown. The camp, scheduled for July 5 through August 15, is for children entering grades 2 through 6. All sessions include interacting with the shelter’s animals. There will also be guest speakers, service projects and animal crafts and games. Each class includes handson experiences based on a special theme. These include: Dogs, Dogs, Dogs; Best Friends; Animal Helpers; What’s Wild, What’s Not; A Cat’s Meow; and Behind the Scenes. The campers will learn all about dogs and cats, wildlife and careers working with animals. New this year is the Animal Helpers session where working dogs (police dog, seeing-eye dog, etc.) and their handlers will visit to discuss the animals’ jobs. For information on registration and camp sessions, call 846-0592 ext. 120.

Woof!

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“A father is a guy who has snapshots in his wallet where his money used to be.” – Author unknown.

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Be true!

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Call in your stuff to 829-2760 or 423-0383, or e-mail us at jtnw alrus@hotmail.com. Thank you.